Just a little crush
by CelestialAuthor
Summary: When Clemont is called back home to deal with a family emergency Bonnie is left to travel with Ash and Serena without her big brother so what will happen when she develops a crush on Ash and how will Ash cope with his new found admirer?


Just a little crush

"Come on, Serena, we're nearly there," Ash encouraged, noticing his friend was lagging behind himself, Clemont and the always energetic Bonnie. Serena sighed as she picked her pace to catch up with the rest of the group.

"How much longer are we gonna be walking?" Serena whined as she finally caught up to Ash, Clemont and Bonnie.

"Not much longer, look. The Pokemon Centre is just there." Clemont pointed down at the building sat at the base of the hill they were stood atop of. Serena's face lit up as she began to run down towards the centre.

"Serena! Wait up!" Bonnie called out, laughing as she chased her friend down the hill.

"Good evening everybody" Nurse Joy greeted the four as they entered the Pokemon Centre.

"Good evening, Nurse Joy," Ash replied.

"Excuse me, are you Clemont?" Nurse Joy asked as they all sat down to sort out their Pokeballs.

"Um, yeah, I'm Clemont," he answered.

"I have a message here from your father, could you please give him a phone call as soon as you are able to?"

"Sure thing," Clemont agreed. He walked over and handed Nurse Joy his Pokeballs and then made his way over to the phones and called his father. Ash, Serena and Bonnie waited quietly for Clemont to finish on the phone, whispering ideas to each other as to what father and son could be discussing.

Twenty minutes later Clemont rejoined his friends, a dejected look etched on his face. He sat down and explained to them that his father had recently broken his leg and was unable to man his shop, so he had called to request that Clemont return to Lumiose City to help him out until his leg healed up. After double checking that their father was as okay as he could be in his condition, Bonnie's eyes began to water as she thought about leaving their little group, the friends that had become family to her, Ash, future Pokemon Master, and Serena, future Kalos Queen.

"Bonnie, what's wrong?" Clemont asked.

"I-I-I don't w-wanna le-leave," Bonnie croaked, trying to hold back her tears.

"I'm sorry," Clemont sighed, putting his arm around his little sister's shoulders. Bonnie threw her arms around him and sobbed quietly into his chest. Serena and Ash shared a quick look as Clemont tried to comfort his sister.

"Umm, Clemont...If it's okay with you, we can look after Bonnie and she can stay with us," Serena offered. Bonnie pulled away from her brother and looked hopefully over at the older girl.

"Serena, are you sure?"

"Yeah, we're sure. We love having Bonnie around," Ash added, smiling at the small blonde. She let go of her brother and rushed over to Serena and Ash, throwing her arms around them.

One month later.

Ash awoke in the early hours of the morning to Bonnie prodding him gently awake, on her knees in his tent, soaking wet. Ash sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Bonnie? What's going on?" Ash yawned.

"The storm outside woke me up and scared me, can I stay in here with you please?" Bonnie was shaking slightly as she replied. Ash looked at her: she was soaked, and he'd never seen her look so small and timid before. He grabbed his backpack from beside his sleeping bag and rummaged around to find one of his spare hoodies. He laid it on the floor next to her and turned his back to her, giving her as much privacy as he could.

"Here, change into this, it's not the warmest but it's better than those wet pyjamas you're wearing," Ash offered. Bonnie quickly changed out of her wet night clothes and into his hoodie.

"Thanks, Ash." Bonnie lay down next to him and quickly drifted back off to sleep.

The next day, Ash, Serena and Bonnie decided to head up an icy mountain as a shortcut to the next town where Ash and Serena would both be competing. Bonnie raced ahead, with Dedenne as always clinging onto her shoulder. She slowed down to allow Ash and Serena to catch up to her.

"Bonnie, be careful around here, the path gets very narrow and it's really dangerous," Serena warned the young girl.

"I'll be fi-" Bonnie began to say before she slipped over a patch of ice and tripped towards the edge of the mountain path.

"BONNIE!" Ash cried out, lunging forward and grabbing her before she fell over the edge.

"Dedenne! NO!" Bonnie yelled as the little mouse went flying off her shoulder as she slipped

and down the side of the cliff.

As quickly as he could, Ash released his Talonflame, ordering it to go and save Dedenne. Talonflame took off at high speed and swooped down, plucking the tiny Pokemon out of the air. He flew back up and gently placed it in Bonnie's hands. She threw her arms around Ash's neck and began to cry.

"I'm so sorry! Please don't tell Clemont about this, he'll get so mad," Bonnie pleaded.

"Hey, it's okay, you don't have to cry. We won't say anything," Ash replied.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Over the next few weeks, Ash noticed a change in Bonnie, especially around him. She would not leave his side from the moment they woke up to the moment they went to bed. She had become extremely interested in his training. She'd even joined him for a few sessions with Dedenne, and he'd even managed to teach it how to tackle and a surprisingly powerful Thundershock attack. She was also taking an interest in how he'd spend his evenings drawing up different strategies for all of the different opponents he'd face in future battles. She'd even ask him about his past experiences in leagues and all the friends he'd travelled with in the past.

"Who was your favourite?" she asked, secretly hoping that he'd mention her.

"I don't know," Ash answered, pondering the question before continuing.

"I mean, I can't pick a favourite...Everybody I've ever met holds a very special place in my heart. Like Brock, he was the very first Gym Leader I ever fought against and he became a brother to me. Max as well...I've never met such a smart kid for his age, his Pokemon knowledge was second to none. Then there was Misty, May, Dawn, Iris, Gary, Richie, Kacey and so many others. I wouldn't be where or who I am today without any of the people I've met," Ash admitted to her.

Ash left early the next morning, heading off for some special training for Pikachu, Talonflame and Frogadier so Serena and Bonnie were left on their own, not knowing when Ash would return. Serena was sewing together her outfit for her next event and Bonnie was grooming Dedenne.

"Serena..."

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing."

"What can I do to show a boy I like him?"

"Ohh, is this about Ash?" Serena asked, being careful not to crush the younger girl's hopes. Bonnie blushed a deep crimson before gently nodding.

"Hmm, well, he doesn't really like much other than Pokemon and anything Pokemon-related," Serena joked.

"Yeah, that's true," Bonnie laughed.

"So how did this crush come about?"

"I dunno really, it's just that Ash is the only other boy other than my brother to ever be nice to me and unlike my brother he actually treats me like a big kid and not just some dumb baby," Bonnie confessed. Serena smiled sweetly at her, wondering how she could let the young girl down gently.

"And he's so amazing with Pokemon, I just dunno why but I really like him," Bonnie added, trying to put her reasons for her crush into words. Serena thought for a few moments longer before replying.

"Bonnie..." Serena began.

"Yeah?" Bonnie replied, her eyes twinkling as she continued to think about Ash.

"Do you wanna help me make some flower jewellery for my next pagent?" Serena sighed, copping out of warning Bonnie as she saw how happy she was– she didn't wanna be responsible for breaking the little girl's heart. She just hoped Ash would let her down gently.

Later that evening at the Pokemon Centre, Ash sat with Bonnie talking about his adventures in the Johto region along with Misty and Brock, recounting all of the friends he'd made there, Pokemon and human alike.

"...and there was my Chikorita, she was just the sweetest, most affectionate Pokemon ever, but when she evolved into Bayleaf we had a huge fight when she very first evolved. But we made up and she became one of my very best friends." Ash continued to talk about his Johto League adventures until Bonnie drifted off to sleep. Once Bonnie was snoring gently, Ash left his seat by the side of her bed and stepped out of the room where Serena was waiting for him with a cup of hot chocolate.

"You're really great with her," Serena commented, handing him his drink.

"Heh, thanks. I guess I've just always wanted to have a little brother or sister," Ash admitted quietly. Serena placed her hand on his arm gently.

"I shouldn't really tell you this...But Bonnie has developed a bit of a crush on you," Serena confessed.

"I thought it might have been something like that."

"You mean you knew?"

"Well, I took a guess."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"I dunno...I don't wanna hurt her feelings."

"I know. Just try to let her down gently, okay?"

"Okay."

The next day, Bonnie was huddled over the desk next to her bed, tongue stuck out between her lips in concentration, hands tying flowers and twine together until eventually she placed it down on the desk with a satisfied look on her face.

"FINISHED!" she exclaimed happily as she looked down at the two hand made bracelets sat on the desk. She picked them up and marched with purpose to the garden area where Ash and Serena were giving all the Pokemon some fresh air and exercise.

"HEY ASH!" Bonnie called out as she ran over to him.

"Morning, Bonnie," Ash greeted warmly.

"Ash...I've got something very important I need to ask you...I'm a big kid now and so I know how these things work, so...Will you marry me?" Bonnie asked, dropping down on both knees and presenting Ash with one of her hand made flower bracelets. Ash gulped as he remembered his promise to Serena last night to let Bonnie down gently. He thought for a moment about what he was gonna say.

"Bonnie, I...I'm sorry. I can't marry you" Ash sighed sadly, feeling sick that he was breaking his young friend's heart. He felt even worse when he saw Bonnie tearing up.

"I really am sorry but we're too young, but you know you'll always be my friend," Ash tried to explain.

"Yeah, well, that's no good! You told me yourself you always leave your friends behind! Like Misty and Brock, Richie, Gary, Dawn, May and Max and Iris," Bonnie cried.

"Yeah, I do, because sometimes even though it hurts we have to part ways - Misty and Brock are now two of the best Gym Leaders you could find, May is now a fully fledged Pokemon Co Ordinator and Iris is on her way to becoming a Dragon master." Ash knelt down beside her,

pulled open his backpack and took a few items out.

"Here, look at these." He showed her half of a broken Pokeball "This was given to me by my friend Gary, he has the other half so we'll always have a piece of our friendship with us." Ash took out the lure that Misty had given him and told her the story behind that.

"And my friend Dawn, we had our very own special high five that we didn't do with anyone else...Yes, my friends and I may all go down our own roads but we never stop being friends, and that includes you, Clemont and Serena. I have so many amazing memories with you all that I won't have with anyone else. So yeah, we might all go our own ways in the future but we're always gonna be the best of friends. And now..." Ash took one of the bracelets and put it on his wrist before placing the other one on Bonnie's wrist. "We're flower bracelet buddies and I'll never have that with anyone else. This is just me and you, okay?"

"Okay," Bonnie sniffed, wiping the tears out of her eyes and hugging Ash tightly.

"Oh, and your brother called earlier, he's gonna join us again in the next town," Ash informed her, bringing out the widest smile from her.


End file.
